USA Dot Com is a blog covering politics and government from a conservative Christian perspective. Verne Strickland is a 50-year veteran of investigative journalism. This blog offers a take-no-prisoners style with a modicum of biting satire. Verne and his wife of 55 years, Durrene, live in Wilmington, NC.

Republican legislators singled out the Democrat-friendly NCAE to stop it from deducting
membership dues from paychecks.

“This bill is nothing but a petty and vindictive attempt to seek retribution against a group that opposed the Republican budget,” said Perdue in a written statement. “The bill unfairly singles out this one group for special treatment. The state Constitution requires organizations with similar missions to be treated equally. This bill clearly does not follow that requirement, therefore I veto it.”

Republican leaders say the cutoff of dues was not an attack on teachers. They say it was a move against the political activity of the group's leadership against GOP causes.

Minority Leader Joe Hackney issued a statement shortly after the governor's veto. "Gov. Perdue made another strong stand for teachers today by refusing to allow this frivolous legislation go into law," Hackney said in a written statement.

"Teachers have the right to share their opinions about a budget that hurts our children and should not have to fear political retribution in return. House Democrats will support them and our governor again if we are called upon."

The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) portrays itself as concerned with the interests of students and public education. Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. NCAE represents the interests of approximately 50,000 teachers and public school employees who pay them. NCAE tax documents state the real purpose of its mission:

“[Tax] Exempt purpose is to advance the interests of educators and the promotion and protection of welfare of the association’s members”1

The joint House and Senate Redistricting Committee met this morning to discuss the next steps for the 2011 redistricting process. The meeting was contentious at times with Democrats concerned about being excluded from the process. During the meeting the committee leadership provided a rough outline of what we can expect over the next several weeks.

June 20 — release of draft maps only for those districts impacted by the Voting Rights Act

June 23 — public hearing to discuss the draft VRA maps

July 1 — release draft maps for House, Senate and Congress

July 7 — public hearing to discuss draft maps

July 13-15 — redistricting committees meet to review and debate the proposed maps

July 17-21 — House and Senate convene special session to take up and pass the redistricting plans

As of now, it seems likely that the General Assembly will have new maps approved by the end of July. After that, they will have to be submitted to the Department of Justice of DC District Court for federal preclearance because of the Voting Rights Act.
http://ncredistrictingreform.com/blog/?p=96

State Rep. Susi Hamilton isn’t happy with the first draft of proposed legislative districts released Friday by Republicans in charge of the once-a-decade redistricting process.

State lawmakers on Friday released a draft of a number of state Senate and state House districts, an early step in the once-a-decade process of redrawing state and federal legislative districts based on population shifts identified by the U.S. Census.

Hamilton, a Wilmington Democrat, said late Friday that her new district would include the downtown Wilmington area, along with largely African-American sections of Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties. She currently represents only parts of New Hanover and lives in downtown Wilmington.

“They took the most urban area east of I-95 and absorbed it into the most rural portion of Southeastern North Carolina,” Hamilton said of the proposed House District 20.

Hamilton’s current district, District 18, isn’t a majority-minority district.

Lawmakers on Friday released a draft of House and Senate districts to meet the restrictions of federal voting rights laws. These districts historically have been designed to allow minority voters the chance to elect candidates of their choice.

The Republican chairs of the General Assembly’s redistricting committees released a statement, saying testimony during a recent redistricting public hearing in New Hanover County indicated that the minority community there supported the creation of a new majority-black House district.

Meanwhile, House District 21 would include parts of western and northern Pender County, as well as parts of Sampson and Wayne counties.

On the Senate side, all of Columbus County would be taken out of Sen. Bill Rabon’s district and merged with Robeson County to create Senate District 13.

Another public hearing on Voting Rights Act districts will be held from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday (June 23) at several locations across the state, including the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The meeting will be held in Room 266 of the Education Building at UNCW, 601 S. College Road.

To view the first draft of the plans, go to ncleg.net and click on the “redistricting” tab near the top of the page, then look under “Plans and Information for 2011.”

For the Senate map, go here. For the House map, go here.
The new maps will take effect in 2012.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Today (June 17) North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes released the following statement regarding today’s announcement that North Carolina’s unemployment rate remains at 9.7% for the third straight month and above 9.2% for twenty-nine straight months:

“Today’s announcement from the Employment Security Commission provides a clear picture that North Carolina’s private sector is stuck in the mud thanks to out of control spending and failed policies pursued by Governor Perdue and the tax and spend Democrats in Raleigh.

This week, Republicans in the General Assembly were able to override Governor Perdue’s budget veto to pass a fact-based bi-partisan budget that right-sizes state government without raising taxes so the private sector can be free to flourish and create jobs. Our state’s fiscal problems were not caused by Republicans but the Republicans in General Assembly have started laying the groundwork to put our state’s fiscal house in order and get North Carolinians back to work.”

Washington D.C.- Congressman Steve King (R-IA) released the following statement after filing an amendment today to H.R 2112, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012, that prevents any funds appropriated under the act from being used to settle claims associated with the controversial and fraud-plagued Pigford II program.

"In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress limited taxpayers’ exposure to the Pigford IIsettlement program at $100 million, a figure that was deemed sufficient to resolve the racial discrimination claims leveled against the United States Department of Agriculture by black farmers," said King.

"Since that time,: King continued, "a lame-duck Democratic Congress agreed to President Obama’s request to pump an additional $1.15 billion into the PigfordII settlement program, doing so even though the program is rife with credible allegations of massive fraud that have not been fully investigated. This was an irresponsible act, and it violated Congress’s responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.

"The new majority in the House of Representatives should not ratify the lame-duck Congress’s decision to increase American taxpayers’ exposure toPigford II fraud.

"I believe that an investigation into the program will reveal that the majority of the claims that have been filed are fraudulent, and Congress should not turn a blind eye to the real possibility that the money is being used primarily to build political goodwill for the President instead of being used to properly redress the much smaller universe of people who have actually suffered harm.

"If passed, my amendment would put the brakes on PigfordIIfunding, and it would prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from paying fraudulent claims one $50,000 check at a time."

ANDY YATES, CAMPAIGN OFFICIAL FOR PANTANOFOR CONGRESS, SENT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO USA DOT COM ON THURS. MORNING JUNE 16:

Verne:

I went to the redistricting committee meeting yesterday (June 15) and they laid out the schedule for releasing maps through adoption. Either this Friday (June 17th) or Monday (June 20th) they are going to release the maps for the Voting Rights (majority-minority) districts then they are going to have a public hearing on those maps only on Thursday, June 23rd.

On Friday July 1st, they are going to release all the rest of the district maps then that next week they will hold a public hearing on those. July 13th, 14th and 15th the redistricting committee will convene in Raleigh to debate the maps and discuss the input from the public hearings. Then on Sunday night July 17th the General Assembly will reconvene in Raleigh to debate and vote on the maps.

The plan is for the General Assembly to be in session through Thursday July 21st as needed to approve the maps. If maps aren't approved by the 21st then additional times will be scheduled for the General Assembly to debate and vote on maps.

ANDY

<andy@pantanoforcongress.com>

We'll have more information on this vital topic as soon as it becomes available. Stay tuned. Verne.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

This is a response from a reader of our post on Mormonism and the U.S. political leader, Governor Mitt Romney, who is arguably the most famous practitioner today of the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

Verne,Never liked the phrase, "with all due respect" for it usually means, here comes the hammer. I personal find the Mormon faith to be no more bizarre than mainstream Christianity. After all, isn't that what faith is all about? Either one believes or one doesn't. It is a divergent path in the forest. Mormons are great people and their faith, as strange as it may seem to mainstream Christians, is quite logically coherent based on their first principles. Bottom line, Mormons are Christians. You guys share a belief in Christ. I see no reason to throw up a religious litmus test. I thought that went out with the election of JFK. BTW you are verging on oversimplification in your treatment of the multiple wives issue.

*VS: Pathfinder 1941 is measured, lucid and intelligent in his comments. I respect that. But his arguments don't convince me that Mormons are Christians, despite their claims and protestations. Well, this is America, so they don't have to be Christian. But if they purport to be, which they do, they must add to their argument proof of what they say. Which they don't. There is ample evidence that they have ulterior motives for making these errant claims about being Christian. I think the following text by Pastor Cooper B. Abrams needs to be shared.

Why Mormons Are Not Christian.

First: Mormons do not follow or believe in the historic Jesus Christ of the Bible, but rather in a difference Jesus. This is why most Biblical Christians emphatically insist that Mormons are not Christians. Let me explain.
The god of the Mormons is not the God of the Bible. To the Mormons, Jesus is the firstborn son of an exalted "man" who became the god of this world. The man-god of Mormonism was made the god of this world because of his good works on another planet somewhere out in the universe. He "earned" godhood, and was thus appointed by a counsel of gods in the heavens to his high position as the god of planet Earth. The Mormon god of this world was a man, like all men, who became a god. This is what the celestial marriage and the temple vows are all about. LDS men, by doing their temple work, are striving for exaltation by which they, too, shall one day become gods. Their wives will be the mother goddesses of "their" world and with their husband will produce the population of their world. This is the Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression."
Note the following quote from the Mormon Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, page 123, made by the LDS Apostle Orson Hyde:
"Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, a mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point were He is."
Lorenzo Snow, late President of the Mormon church, made this statement in the second verse of his famous poem entitled, "Man's Destiny":
"As Abra'm, Isaac, Jacob, too, babes, then men--to gods they grew. As man now is, our God once was; As now God is, so man may be,-- Which doth unfold man's destiny. . ."
The God of the Bible is not an exalted man. The God of the Bible is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. The Bible says He is the only God and there are no other Gods. He had no beginning or end and he is a spirit being and never was a man.

Note the clear teaching of the Bible as to who the real God is:
Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
Psalms 102:26-27, "They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."
Isaiah 43:10-11, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."
Isaiah 44:6, "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
Isaiah 44:8, "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."
Isaiah 45:21-22, "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
Jeremiah 23:24, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."
Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
John 1:16-18, "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Romans 1:22, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."
Colossians 1:15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
1 Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 6:16, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
Clearly, Mormonism's god is not the God of Christianity who is the God revealed to us in the Bible. The Mormon god is a god formed from the imaginations of Joseph Smith, and in truth is a false, non-existent god or idol.

Second: The Jesus Christ of Mormonism is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible.

The Mormon Jesus is the son of this man-god. The Mormon Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, and according to LDS teaching, he married several of the Marys of the New Testament. He is not, to the LDS church, "God incarnate" as the Bible plainly states.

Clearly, the Mormon god and Jesus are not the true God and Jesus of the Bible
Orson Hyde, the Mormon Apostle said, "We say it was Jesus Christ who was married in the marriage of Cana of Galilee" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, page 80).
Brigham Young, said, "When the Virgin Mary conceived the Child Jesus ... He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is His father? He is the first of the human family" (Journal of Discourses, pages 50-51).
Compare this with the Word of God, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
Mormons teach that Jesus Christ suffered for sin in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat "as it were" great drops of blood. Mormons totally avoid the Biblical teaching of Christ's atonement for sin which was accomplished on the Cross.
Note the following quote from, "What Mormons Think of Christ" (LDS publication, pages 32-34):
"Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much is believed and taught on this subject, however, it is utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one's salvation."
It goes further to say that salvation is "conditional on faith, and repentance, and baptism and keeping the commands of God."
I would like to add, yes, it is very true that Christians do speak much of the blood of Christ. Note the emphasis the Bible places on the blood of Christ:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrew 9:14).
"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelations 1:5).
The ejection of this Biblical truth by the LDS church shows again it is not a Christian church.
Note that in the following verses the Bible says salvation, which is forgiveness of sin and receiving of eternal life, is a gift of God, and it is not obtained by "works":
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5).
I am aware that the L.D.S church has several definitions of salvation and several degrees of glory. A good discussion of the problem is found on the Internet at http:CastYourNet.com/LDS-Shock.
The real Jesus Christ is the "only begotten of the Father." He is not one of many sons and certainly not the brother of Satan as the following Scriptures clearly state:
John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Hebrews 1:5, "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?"
1 John 4:9, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

Jesus Christ of the Bible is God Incarnate in Man

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
John 10:30 "I and my Father are one." Jesus claimed to be one with the Father.
In John 14:9, Jesus said to see him is to see the Father.
In John 8:25, 56-59, 18:6,8 Jesus used the Jehovistic "I AM," identifying Himself as God.
In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus claimed to be the Old Testament "Adonai."
In Mark 2:5-7, Jesus forgave sin, a prerogative belonging only to God.
In Matthew 14:33; 28:9; and John 20:28-29, Jesus asserted Himself as God by allowing men to worship Him.
John 1:3 states that Jesus is the Creator, and Genesis 1:1 states that God was the Creator.
Only those who believe in the real Biblical God and Jesus Christ have the right to use the name "Christian." The Mormon prophets historically have openly ridiculed those who believe in the God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit that the Bible reveals.
One question that I would ask all Mormons is this: "If I accept you as a Christian, will you accept me as a Mormon?" Would you accept me as a Mormon if I reject Joseph Smith and all the LDS prophets as being prophets of God. If I do not believe in the Book of Mormon or the LDS Scriptures, baptisms for the dead, the temple endowments, the LDS gospel, would you accept me as a Mormon? The answer is obviously, you would not. In like manner, when Mormonism denies the Bible and every Christian doctrine do you think that Biblical Christians should accept Mormons as Christians? Again the answer is very obvious, no we will not. You cannot legitimately claim to be Christians when you refuse to accept what the Bible teaches and what a true Christian believes. I would implore Mormons to honestly and openly examine their teachings about God and Jesus Christ and examine who the Bible defines as being a Christian. There is no benefit in calling yourself a "Christian" when Biblically you are not.
Because we love the souls of men and want to see them, too, spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior, we strongly object to anyone proclaiming to the world a false Jesus Christ. We do not want to see anyone miss having their sins forgiven and receiving eternal life, because they were deceived.
Jesus said that He alone was the truth, the way and the life.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
Belief in the real Jesus Christ is the only way a man can receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The LDS, church in presenting a false Christ is, in fact, leading souls away from salvation and the real Jesus. They reject God's truth and substitute another Jesus who does not exist and cannot save. Only those who believe in the Biblical Jesus Christ will go to heaven when they die. Those who put their trust in a false Christ will be eternally lost. Every true Child of God knows this, and that is why we try so hard to point men away from false churches, prophets, gods and Christs, that they may find God's true Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.

Let God speak for Himself by His Word.
Matt. 24:24, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 14:10-12).
[Pastor Cooper P. Abrams, III, Castle Country Baptist Church, P.O. Box 665, Price, Utah 84501,

What did our various presidents give us in terms of the religion thing?

To name a few – JFK, to his credit, gave us Catholicism 101, then had to do a crash landing to survive the fall-out. Bubba Clinton, while not known for his immersion in things spiritual, nonetheless can be credited with teaching us what the meaning of “is” is. Obama somehow conjured up a weird hybrid belief system of Islam and Christianity. And now Mitt Romney has gotten us vaguely aware of Mormonism.

I say vaguely aware because he doesn’t talk about it much. Most Mormons don’t talk about it much. That leaves all the rest of us feeling a little fidgety and uncomfortable about the whole subject, which seems to be based on pluralism – lots of wives, lots of gods, lots of worlds, and lots of heavens.

It’s all . . . well, different, isn’t it?

If Governor Romney hadn’t done so well in the ratings with his imminent bid to become the next president of the United States, all the curiosity about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would have pretty much stayed on the back burner.

But it’s too late for that.

We’ve learned a lot. I have, at least. And it’s been an adventure into stuff that is a cross between fairy tales and doctored carbon copies of the Holy Bible. In any other racket it would be written off as plagiarism.
I can’t say I am any less confused. I just know more. I want to share some of my new store of knowledge with you.

I like Mitt Romney. All in all, he seems a class act. But there are gaps in his resume. He’s not really owning up to his Mormon connections, which are deep.

Having learned just enough about Mormonism to embarrass myself at an upscale cocktail party, I can understand why the Mitt would keep it under wraps. But we will take care of that for him.

I can take comfort in the knowledge that my little sandlot blog about Mormonism will have absolutely no effect on the Governor’s political future, which the crystal ball boys are convinced is the envy of everybody else in the chase.

Let's explore just two or three curious LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) or Mormon beliefs described in scripture in the Book of Mormon. They are, trust me . . . bizarre. Even this first description of The Book of Mormon will leave Christians and Jews scratching their heads.

"The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and confirms the truths found in the Bible." (VS: The first challenge would have to come here. The Book of Mormon actually deviates wildly from the truths found in the Holy Bible, as you will see as we continue. How are these vast differences reconciled? They are not. But they are cleverly obscured.)

The Nature of God

While most religions believe in God, Mormons believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as separate beings. They also believe that God, Jesus and resurrected beings have bodies of “flesh and bone.”

1 There are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely: Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones—
2 For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
3 Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.
4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.
5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
D&C 130: 22-23
22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.

Priesthood

In the LDS religion any worthy male can be given the priesthood and is given specific duties. Black people were not allowed to have the priesthood until 1978. Females are not allowed to have the priesthood.
D&C 107: 1-5
1 There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.
2 Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest.
3 Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.
4 But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood.
5 All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood.

Official Declaration – 2, 1978
Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in God’s eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood, and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

Multiple Heavens

In LDS doctrine there are three heavens: the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and Telestial Kingdom. The Celestial is the highest, where God and the ones who followed his law reside. The Terrestrial is the middle, where people who followed the Law of Moses reside. The Telestial is the lowest, where the ones who followed carnal law reside.
D&C 76: 94-98
94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.
97 And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.
98 And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.

Spirits

This one is very unique to the LDS faith. Basically, everyone on earth now was a spirit in the pre-existence. When we die, our spirits are separated from our bodies and if we were good they go to “spirit paradise.” If we were bad they go to “spirit prison.” The spirit world exists as a place for spirits to go while awaiting the second coming.

D&C 138: 8-14
8 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
9 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18—20.)
10 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6.)
11 As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great.
12 And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality;
13 And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name.
14 All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng

VS: Don't know about you, friends, but I think Governor Mitt may have a tough sell on this stuff -- if the GBM (Great Big Media) cover the issue and don't back off. We plan to more information on what we may as well continue to call 'bizarre' Mormon beliefs in another USA DOT COM exclusive report very soon.

Monday, June 13, 2011

After more than two years of destructive jobs policies and the constant threat of higher taxes and record deficits, a simple look at our current unemployment data shows that the President’s policies are failing.

9.1%: The unemployment rate for the month of May.

28: The number of consecutive months that unemployment has been at or above 8 percent—the level the President said unemployment would never reach if the stimulus passed.

19.1%: The rate of underemployment during mid-May according to Gallup’s monthly employment survey. This accounts for the unemployed, those unable to find full-time work and those discouraged from looking for work.

13,914,000: The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of May.

44,587,321: The number of Americans receiving food stamps, the highest number of participants in history.

39.7: The average number of weeks that job seekers have been unemployed.

8,548,000: The number of Americans who are working only part-time because they cannot find full time employment.

6,200,000: The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks.

2,206,000: The number of unemployed Americans who want work, but who have stopped looking because of the state of the economy.

1,231,000:The number of job seekers that are new entrants to the workforce and have yet to find a job.

24.2%: The unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19.

16.2%: The unemployment rate among African Americans.

11.9%: The unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos.

14.7%: The unemployment rate among Americans without high school diplomas.

6.8%: The level at which the Obama administration claimed unemployment would be today if the “stimulus” was signed into law.

1,908,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed since the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law in February 2009.

$1,161,000,000,000: The total cost of the Democrats’ “stimulus.” CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $814 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion.

We Can Reverse Course, Create Jobs, and Grow the Economy Now

While the news is gloomy, there is still an opportunity for the nation to change directions. Republicans in Congress are taking action to create a better environment for job growth immediately and ensure economic growth in the future.

Already the economy is making small gains since Republicans took control of the House. The modest improvement can be attributed to two factors—the free-market economy is slowly moving toward a recovery from this deep recession, and with Republicans controlling one lever of the lawmaking powers, job creators know the upper limits of the Democrats’ legislative pain is behind them.

While the White House and Senate may refuse to enact our policies, House Republicans’ actions will increase confidence in the private sector by guaranteeing a check on the Democrats’ reckless spending and job-crushing regulations.

DARRYL "SHIFTY" POWERSThe Band of Brothers hero died two years ago this week.

"Shifty" By Chuck Yeager

THIS TOUCHING REMEMBRANCE OF SHIFTY POWERS, WRITTEN BY U.S. SPACE HERO CHUCK YEAGER, WAS PROVIDED BY ANDREW KOEPPEL OF WILMINGTON, NC

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 ..." at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped. I told him "Yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what D-Day was."

Then he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero! and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said, "Yes. And it 's real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to make an old man very happy."

His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on JUNE l7 2009 after fighting cancer. There was no parade. No big event in Staples Center .No wall-to-wall, back-to-back 24x7 news coverage. No weeping fans on television. And that's not right!

Let's give Shifty his own memorial service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

Chuck Yeager, Maj. General [ret.]

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED JUNE 20, 2009 IN THE BRISTOL VA HERALD COURIER:

Darrell “Shifty” Powers, one of the soldiers depicted in “Band of Brothers,” passed away on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

BY ROGER BROWN

“The world depended on them. They depended on each other.”

That was the tagline for “Band of Brothers” – an award-winning 2001 HBO mini-series drama on the World War II experiences of Easy Company, a U.S. Army unit that fought bravely and fiercely across Europe.

But for Bristol’s Margo Johnson – daughter of Darrell “Shifty” Powers, one of the soldiers depicted in “Band of Brothers” – two more lines could be added to describe her heroic father: “The world truly admired Darrell Powers. I absolutely adored him.”

“I loved everything about my daddy,” Johnson said. “He never bragged about what he did in the war. And for a lot of years, he never even talked much about what he did – unless someone asked him about it.

“But he truly was a hero to me,” Johnson said. “Just like he’d been to the people who know him as a soldier in a [mini-series].”

Powers, a Dickenson County native, died earlier this week at age 86 following a battle with cancer. His funeral service will be held today in Clintwood.

“He was a brave man, even to the end of his life,” Johnson said of her father. “He’s helping me be brave now, too.”

Bravery – and dignity – was a constant, running thread in the life of “Shifty” Powers, both during and after his life as an Army sharpshooter in the actual “Band of Brothers.”

After the war, Powers served as an eloquent representative for the men he fought with: At one point during the “Band of Brothers” mini-series, he appeared on camera to talk in moving, humane fashion about his grim but necessary task during the war – killing the enemy.

“He was like most of the other [Easy Company] soldiers we met for the series. They were good guys who were kind of shocked that, 50 years later, people were making a big deal over them for just doing their duty.